


A Love Affair In Moments Of Time

by lindsey_grissom



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Canonical Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-17
Updated: 2010-07-17
Packaged: 2017-10-10 14:58:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lindsey_grissom/pseuds/lindsey_grissom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of twenty moments in the love affair of Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Love Affair In Moments Of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Season Three.

**o1; water**

Ianto hates it most when Jack dies in water. You can't live long without water which makes it hard to avoid the liquid, after, the way he does the knives and guns. Jack tells him not to bother, that it's an easier way to die than some and takes a big gulp from his glass to prove it. Ianto drinks scotch from Jack's office and glares at the water bowl for a week.

 

**o2; tangled up**

Ianto always orders the fish when they go out. Jack gets the duck or the steak and sometimes, when he's feeling like he needs a change, he'll order pasta just to see which eyebrow Ianto will raise. Two bites in they'll start switching side dishes. When the waiter takes their plates at the end Jack will tell him the fish was excellent and Ianto will smile and wipe sauce from his mouth. He always orders the fish dry.

 

**o3; gamble**

Jack likes living on the edge. Without the fear of death he has to work hard to find new edges to hang from. He hires people who probably want to kill him most days and has a pterodactyl for a pet that tries every time he forgets the chocolate. He tries monogamy with a man who nearly killed him to save his cyber-girlfriend and pretends it's his body on the table and not his heart.

 

**o4; women**

It's not that Jack's a man. At least, that isn't all it is. It's that Jack's a time-travelling man from the fifty-first century with no end of stories to prove that he will shag just about anything with a pulse. He tells Jack it's because he's immortal and won't ever change. He tells his Ma he's still not over Lisa, that he's broken up with Tosh, but things are going well with Gwen now.

 

**o5; meow**

Animals don't belong in the hub. Especially kittens. Alien kittens that sit on Jack's lap and make his eyes sparkle when he thinks no one's looking. But Ianto's always looking and Jack hasn't laughed like that in weeks. There's a small travel cage in the archives they used once to transport a Thallex back to its ship, it's probably the right size for a kitten. At least until he makes some room for them both in his flat.

 

**o6; rekindle**

His Tad used to say that some time apart made the sex better. His Ma used to laugh and blush and when Ianto was older she would agree. Lisa sometimes went away just so she could come back and they could pretend it was a longer trip. Jack comes back with shadows and a psychotic ex and Ianto didn't think sex with Jack could get any better. He was wrong.

 

**o7; astride**

It worries Jack sometimes, how easily they all think that he's the one who has all the ideas. He has plenty but he's an old hat at it all; it's just been a while since he's had a partner that likes to dabble as much as Ianto. It's been a really long time since he's had a lover with almost as many kinks as he has. There's not a lot about propositions for sex that can surprise him anymore, but doing it on the invisible lift in broad daylight the first sunny day Cardiff has had in weeks, raises more than Jack's eyebrow.

 

**o8; familiarity**

On the days following the nights that Jack spends alone in the Hub, Ianto wears his three piece suit and doesn't open a single button on the waistcoat all day. When he's tired, Ianto sticks to just a jacket and lets Jack do his tie up for him. When he thinks Jack's been looking more at the others than at him, Ianto wears the red shirt and sometimes Jack makes it to lunch before ripping it off him and letting himself be taken across his desk. When he's happy and content and maybe still a little bit sated, Ianto works in the Archives in just his shirtsleeves and Jack only lasts until 10.

 

**o9; first and last**

Ianto's dead for their first kiss and doesn't remember it when the others ask. Jack's alive for their first one and pushes just a little bit of that life into Ianto. Ianto's dead when they kiss for the last time. No one's left to ask him about it and this time he can't answer anyway. Jack's nearly dead himself and he only has one thing left to share. He wakes up knowing Ianto was wrong; love isn't always enough.

 

**1o; overconfident**

He's Captain Jack Harkness. Things like this don't happen to people like him. They happen to people like Gwen who has always had more emotion than is good for anyone around her, or to Tosh who used to hide it but felt it all the same. But not to people who have fought wars in and out of time and can't remember the name they were born with. He rubs his hands against his cheeks to remove the tears and decides to let Ianto sleep a little longer. No, things like this don't happen to people like him, at least, not often.

 

**11; barley**

When he said they should take more days out, this wasn't exactly what Ianto meant. He was thinking of sand and lapping waves and cuddling on blankets when the sun starts to dip. He would have considered a busy town, museum visits and lots of expensive shopping if it meant nights in an expensive hotel. Jack reaches an arm out and pulls him close and Ianto watches as the hovering ship suddenly spins out of sight. Only Torchwood would consider investigating crop circles a holiday. Only Jack would make it seem like one.

 

**12; patient**

_One. _ Jack holds the stopwatch in front of his eyes and counts in time with the faint ticking. 60 ticks later he thinks that he must have miscounted, it had to be longer than that. _Two._ Resting the watch on his stomach, Jack lays back on the couch, hands laced behind his head and waits. _Three._ And waits. _Four. _ Slipping the watch back into his pocket, Jack stands and paces the length of the room, gaze landing on the decorated tree more often than it should. _Five._ Ianto should be back by now, Jack shoves his hands in his pockets, wrapping one around the watch to stop them twitching. _Six._ The smell of coffee fills the air and Jack can hear Ianto's voice coming closer, humming a traditional song. Jack smiles remembering when it was new. He has the present in his hands and the wrapping paper on the floor before Ianto's finished entering the room.

 

**13; fluke**

It was, Ianto tells Gwen afterwards, just one of those things. Just when you think...but no. He couldn't have anticipated it, he's certain of that. And it's never happened before. But there's a first time for everything and that was one of them. He and Jack were very sorry they had to miss her dinner but it just couldn't be helped, what with the weevil uprising and all. He doesn't tell her that it was just one weevil or that he spent most of the night playing naked hide and seek with Jack.

 

**14; longingly**

Jack's admired many people in his lifetime. Men, women and everything else in between. Sometimes, it's the way they look; he'll admit it. Sometimes he really is that shallow. But there have been a great number of people he has been drawn to because of the way their minds work, or their hearts. Anyone that really catches his fancy, Jack takes the time getting to know. He gets as close as he can and then when the time comes, he gets as far away as he can too. On his first day, Jack admires the lay of Ianto's suit across his shoulders, the intelligence behind his eyes and the shielded heart beneath his shirt.

 

**15; quadrangular**

Ianto likes his job. He likes that he can go to sleep at night (when the rift isn't open and he stays awake for three days) knowing what he does makes a difference to the survival of the world. Ianto likes his family. Okay, he loves them, but he likes that he doesn't have lots of family gatherings where he has to explain that he really isn't wasted working in a tourist office. Ianto likes his flat, which is tidy and neat and perfectly clean. And then there's Jack; who's been gone for two months, who kissed him in front of the team and then disappeared. Ianto knows that three out of four isn't bad.

 

**16; corrugated iron**

Everything they learn about Jack comes in bits and pieces that they have to put together like a jigsaw puzzle. He's loud and brash and larger than life. Every action, every move tells them everything about what he's feeling and reveals nothing about who he is. Everything they know about Ianto comes in one night of horror and metal. He's buttoned up and air tight and loyal to the end. Everything he does tells them what kind of man he is but only Jack ever seems to really know how he feels.

 

**17; underarm**

Jack's ticklish. Ianto finds out quite by accident one night. He settles close to Jack and nuzzles into him and Jack giggles. He denies it, of course, so Ianto does it again. Jack's handsome, no doubt, with sparkling blue eyes and a stunning grin. And dimples. The problem with dimples is in what they reveal. Jack denies it, so Ianto rubs his nose against him again and even though Jack doesn't giggle or laugh or smile, Ianto sees the little dips in his cheeks and knows.

 

**18; aboard**

First, Ianto gives his body to Jack but not his heart. After Jack finds out about Lisa, everything stops and they both start again. Ianto gives Jack his heart, just a little, and all of his body until Jack stays dead for a long time and then runs for the Doctor. When Jack returns he has to ask for anything that Ianto can give, and finds that a little of anything might not be enough any more. Ianto doesn't give him anything for a while, but Jack's hard to resist and Ianto's worth the extra effort. Jack realises that loving Ianto is like a journey and he finally settles in for the long-haul.

 

**19; colouration**

When Ianto thinks of Jack, he doesn't think of blue, he thinks of red. He thinks of the lines in his eyes when he wakes up in the middle of the night on the few times he sleeps. He thinks of the puddles spreading out beneath Jack's body far more times than Ianto can bare. He thinks of the bright braces that Jack wears then uses to tie Ianto to the bed. When Jack thinks of Ianto, he thinks of home in police box blue.

 

**2o; blossom**

Their first date ends when Ianto spots a Cri'ath'm and Jack dies taking it down. Jack makes the mistake of saying their next date can't be worse. He gets hit by a car helping an old lady across the road and they spend six hours in A&amp;E because Mrs Harrison insists on taking Jack to the hospital. Ianto plans their third date and bans Jack from even mentioning it. It rains and rains and they spend most of the night mopping up the overflow from the water bowl. When their fourth date stalls because the restaurant suddenly isn't there anymore, they go back to the Hub and Ianto collapses in laughter. He leans against Jack's side and sips his coffee and Jack tells him they'll probably get it right eventually.

 

**End.**


End file.
